The Ministry of Cooperation is a Union ministry under the Government of India[1] which was formed in 2021. The ministry provides a separate administrative, legal and policy framework for strengthening the cooperative movement in the country. The ministry's creation was announced on 6 July 2021[2] along with its vision statement of Sahkar se samriddhi (transl.Prosperity through cooperation). Before the creation of this ministry, the objectives of this ministry were looked after by the Ministry of Agriculture.[3]
The ministry works in strengthening co-operatives at the grassroot level,[4][5] working to streamline processes for 'Ease of doing business' for co-operatives and enabling the development of Multi-State Co-operatives (MSCS).[6][7] The same was initially announced by Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman while presenting the 2021 Union budget.[4]
Department of Co-operation State Committees was created with objectives of:[8]
Legal framework preservation for strengthening the country.
To deter discrimination to communities in the country.
Historic preservation of every state in the country.
Criticism
Co-operative societies, being a subject of State List under the Seventh schedule of the Constitution, many experts raised concerns that, creating such a ministry at the central level would increase the power in the hands of the union government.[9]
Kerala's Minister of Co-operation and Registration V. N. Vasavan claimed that, "Creation of a new Cooperation ministry will make it difficult for state government to interfere in cooperative organisations and is an infringement upon the federal rights of the state governments. [....] This is an intrusion into the authority of the state governments."[10]
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